


the very genesis of rebels

by zozo



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Post-Season/Series 03, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-26 09:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20928218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zozo/pseuds/zozo
Summary: Scorpia defects. It's an adjustment for everyone.





	the very genesis of rebels

It feels like a personal milestone, the first time one of the guards calls her “Queen Glimmer” and she manages not to flinch.

She’s not even sitting on the throne when it happens. She’s in the library, researching ancient Bright Moon law with Bow and Adora. There’s so much Angella thought Glimmer would never need to know, and now she needs to learn it all as quickly as she can.

Unfortunately, what the guards actually say doesn’t leave much time for reflection on personal milestones: what the guards actually say is, “We’ve captured a Horde officer, Queen Glimmer. It’s Scorpia.”

“Captured” turns out to be a strong word; “accepted her surrender” is closer to the truth. Scorpia had approached the gates weaponless, waving an obviously-handmade white flag, and she’d allowed the guards to lead her to the palace’s auxiliary holding cell without a word.

“‘Auxiliary holding cell’?” Adora asks, eyebrow quirked.

“The east guest room,” Glimmer says, sounding deeply tired.

Adora puts her hand gently on Glimmer’s shoulder. “I should be the one to talk to her. If she’s here to defect…”

“Yeah. That makes sense. But I want to be there. And I want her under a truth spell.”

Adora blinks. “You can cast a truth spell?”

“Um… sort of. Aunt Casta’s been showing me a few things. I can’t _make_ Scorpia be honest, but I can stop her from telling lies. So if she has anything to say after we cast the spell, we’ll know it’s true.”

Adora thinks about it for a moment. “That’s probably good enough.” She takes Glimmer’s hand, and the guards escort them to the east wing.

* * *

Adora’s not sure what she expected from Scorpia, but the silhouette slumped on the holding cell’s overstuffed sofa isn’t it. She doesn’t even look up as Adora and Glimmer come in, nor when they nod to dismiss the guards, leaving just the three of them alone in the dimly-lit room.

“Scorpia,” says Adora, trying to summon her best Force Captain voice. “We need to talk. But first, Glimmer’s going to cast a truth spell on you.” Glimmer explains the spell, how it won’t compel her to speak, but it will prevent her from lying. Scorpia doesn’t make eye contact, but she nods in all the right places, so Adora assumes she understands.

Glimmer draws a circle of runes in the air and sends it towards Scorpia. It settles around her, leaving only a faint glow. Scorpia doesn’t move.

The scorpion princess’s demeanor is starting to unnerve Adora. She doesn’t know Scorpia well, but they’ve met a handful of times, and she’s never been like this—she’s always been the opposite of this, frankly. She’s starting to dread whatever Scorpia has to say.

Glimmer insists on asking the first question. “Did you come here planning to benefit the Horde, or advance its interests in any way?”

Scorpia sighs a long, long sigh. “No.” Her voice is raspy and low.

“Did you come here with ill intent towards Bright Moon or any other member of the Princess Alliance?”

“No.”

Even standing while Scorpia’s seated, it’s hard to get to an intimidating level of height over her. Intimidation doesn’t feel like the right approach anyway, so Adora sits down on the opposite end of the sofa casually, like this is a social call.

“So, uh, Scorpia,” Adora says after a minute. “Why _are_ you here? Why did you leave the Fright Zone?”

It takes a long time for Scorpia to answer, long enough that Adora starts to worry she didn’t come to Bright Moon with anything honest to say. But then she sees Scorpia’s eyes screwed shut and her lower lip quivering and realizes she’s trying not to cry in front of the enemy.

Adora knows _that_ feeling.

Finally Scorpia speaks, voice barely above a whisper. “I couldn’t—I couldn’t stay. And I didn’t…” She sighs, and slumps her broad shoulders. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

* * *

Later, Adora knocks on the door of the guest room, but walks in without waiting for an answer. It _is_ still a holding cell, after all.

Scorpia is lying on her side on the couch, staring into space. She sits up slowly when she sees Adora come in.

“Did you have more questions?” Scorpia asks. “You can cast another truth spell if you want.”

Adora raises the covered tray in her hands. “I brought you dinner, actually.”

“Oh. Yeah. I should eat. Thanks.” Adora sets the food down and starts walking towards the door. “Wait,” says Scorpia. Adora turns around.

They look at each other for a moment. Adora wonders what Scorpia remembers, if anything, from inside the portal, their brief attempt at working together. She wonders if Scorpia really dislikes her that much, so deep down that it even transcends reality. She wonders if she deserves it.

“Why did you leave Catra?” Scorpia blurts into the silence.

“I didn’t leave _Catra_.” Adora’s brow furrows. “I left the Horde. And I wanted her to come with me, you know. I asked her to. More than once. She—she chose to stay.”

Scorpia looks sharply at her. “I didn’t know that.”

“She made a lot of choices,” Adora says, and feels a dull ache in her right hand, and another one under her ribs. “And so did I. And here we are.”

Scorpia looks like she’s really thinking about this. Adora can’t help but ask, “Why did _you_ leave?”

She doesn’t say “leave Catra.” She doesn’t know what Catra and Scorpia’s relationship was, and she realizes she doesn’t want to know. She almost regrets asking the question.

“Me and Catra,” Scorpia starts, and Adora’s stomach sinks, just a little; but she bats the feeling away as Scorpia continues. “We were… I thought we could…” Tears well up in her eyes, and Adora crosses the distance between them to put a hand on Scorpia’s upper arm. Scorpia leans a little into the touch.

After a few moments, she composes herself and picks up the thread of the conversation. “I thought we could be together. I thought she could love me. I thought…”

“You thought she’d change?”

“I… Yeah. I really did.”

Adora squeezes Scorpia’s arm. “Me too.”

* * *

“Scorpia!”

It’s Queen Glimmer stalking down the hallway, looking tiny and purposeful. Scorpia braces herself.

“D-did I do something wrong? The guards said I could walk around the east wing. I just wanted to stretch my legs, but—”

Glimmer waves a hand. “I told the guards you could—that’s not why I’m here. I need—” The princess—the queen—deflates a little. “I need someone to spar with. Adora and Bow aren’t here, and nobody else is willing to throw an honest punch at their queen.”

“So… you want me to punch you?”

Glimmer’s expression turns wicked. “I want you to try.”

Which is how Scorpia ends up in the Bright Moon palace gymnasium, trying to tag Glimmer with her tail and missing nine times out of ten. They’ve fought before, of course, fought for real, but Scorpia’s used to training against robots, not princesses, and it takes her a few rounds to get used to the rhythm.

But there’s no getting used to Glimmer. She teleports to the ceiling of the gym, plummets to gain speed, then in a flash of sparkles somehow shifts the angle of her momentum horizontally to tackle Scorpia—easily twice her mass—clean off her feet. She lets Scorpia swing her tail at full strength and vanishes the instant before contact, so Scorpia overbalances before finding there’s suddenly a foot sweeping out her legs. Glimmer disappears and reappears so quickly it’s like fighting a glittering pink fog that occasionally throws a devastatingly precise uppercut.

Scorpia gets a few lucky hits in, though, including a blow with her tail that sends Glimmer crashing into the far wall. She’s worried she might have overdone it until the Queen of Bright Moon climbs to her feet laughing maniacally, wiping blood from a split lip. “Now _that’s_ what I’m talking about, Scorpia!”

An hour later, both women are sprawled on the floor of the gym, trying to catch their breath.

“Oof,” says Scorpia once she’s able. “I don’t remember you being able to teleport like _that_.”

“Yeah,” Glimmer pants, “that’s… that’s new. Thanks for not actually stinging me.”

“Your ribs are probably going to wish I had.”

Glimmer grunts. “I don’t mind bruises. I’ll be faster next time.”

Scorpia lets that hang in the air for a minute, but she can’t help but ask, “Next time?”

Glimmer turns her head so she’s facing Scorpia, revealing an extremely un-regal black eye already blossoming. Scorpia doesn’t even want to know how sweaty and bruised she looks herself. “I mean, if you want to,” Glimmer says. “This was fun.”

“Yeah,” Scorpia smiles—she can’t help herself. “It was.”

* * *

When Adora returns, she gasps at the sight of Glimmer’s battered face. “Glimmer!” she cries, rushing to her friend, tenderly cupping a bruised cheek. “What _happened_?”

Glimmer closes her eyes for a moment, appreciating the feeling of Adora’s hand, rough but warm. Then she giggles. “I was sparring with Scorpia and it, uh, got a little out of hand? It’s no big deal; I’ll cast a healing spell before I go to bed tonight and it’ll be fine in the morning.”

“Sparring… with Scorpia?” Adora looks a little stunned.

“Yeah! I haven’t had a workout like that in ages. Um, no offense.”

Adora cocks an eyebrow and grins. “I can’t believe you’re cheating on me,” she teases.

“You’re still my favourite workout buddy,” Glimmer says with a smile, tucking a stray wisp of hair behind Adora’s ear. “But what am I supposed to do when you’re not here so I can kick your butt?”

“So I can _let you_ kick my butt, you mean.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Glimmer rests her head on Adora’s shoulder. “I’m glad you’re back.”

“Scorpia’s not one for post-workout cuddling, I take it?”

“Oh, shut up.”


End file.
